The impact of provider payments on health care utilisation of low-income individuals: Evidence from Medicare and Medicaid
Provider payments are the key determinant of insurance generosity within many health insurance programs covering low-income populations. This paper analyses the effects of a large, federally-mandated provider payment increase for primary care services provided to low-income elderly and disabled individuals.
Estimates indicate that the provider payment reform led to a 6.3 per cent increase in targeted services provided to eligible beneficiaries, indicating an implied payment elasticity of 1.2.
Further, the provider payment reform decreased the fraction of low-income beneficiaries with no primary care visit in a year by 9 per cent, completely closing the gap relative to higher-income beneficiaries with the same observable characteristics.
Speaker
Marika Cabral, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Texas at Austin; Research Associate; the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
A/Prof Cabral’s research covers a range of topics in health economics and public finance. Much of her research focuses on understanding the role of market failures, the impacts of incentive design, and the consequences of government intervention in health-related insurance markets.
In 2019, she was awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER award. She was awarded the National Tax Association Dissertation Award in 2011 and the International Health Economics Association Arrow Award for “the best paper in health economics published in 2017”.
She obtained her PhD in economics from Stanford University in 2011.
Register now
As part of the Centre of Health Economics' vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series where visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
Contact shannon.stanwell@monash.edu for registration details.
Event Details
- Date:
- 30 March 2022 at 9:00 am – 10:00 am
- Venue:
- Online
- Categories:
- Health Economics; CHE Seminar
Description
Provider payments are the key determinant of insurance generosity within many health insurance programs covering low-income populations. This paper analyses the effects of a large, federally-mandated provider payment increase for primary care services provided to low-income elderly and disabled individuals.
Estimates indicate that the provider payment reform led to a 6.3 per cent increase in targeted services provided to eligible beneficiaries, indicating an implied payment elasticity of 1.2.
Further, the provider payment reform decreased the fraction of low-income beneficiaries with no primary care visit in a year by 9 per cent, completely closing the gap relative to higher-income beneficiaries with the same observable characteristics.
Speaker
Marika Cabral, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Texas at Austin; Research Associate; the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
A/Prof Cabral’s research covers a range of topics in health economics and public finance. Much of her research focuses on understanding the role of market failures, the impacts of incentive design, and the consequences of government intervention in health-related insurance markets.
In 2019, she was awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER award. She was awarded the National Tax Association Dissertation Award in 2011 and the International Health Economics Association Arrow Award for “the best paper in health economics published in 2017”.
She obtained her PhD in economics from Stanford University in 2011.
Register now
As part of the Centre of Health Economics' vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series where visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
Contact shannon.stanwell@monash.edu for registration details.